Noah Adamshttp://delmarvapublicradio.net
enAs Bourbon Booms, Demand For Barrels Is Overflowinghttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/bourbon-booms-demand-barrels-overflowing
If you could make a lot of bourbon whiskey these days, you could be distilling real profits. Bourbon sales in this country are up 36 percent in the past five years.<br /> <br />But you'd need new wooden barrels for aging your new pristine product. Simple white oak barrels, charred on the inside to <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/09/09/220655227/rye-bother-an-inside-the-barrel-look-at-american-whiskeys">increase flavor</a> and add color, are becoming more precious than the bourbon.<br /> Mon, 29 Dec 2014 22:03:00 +0000Noah Adams66380 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netAs Bourbon Booms, Demand For Barrels Is OverflowingAn Unlikely Friday Night Pizza Cafe Has A Big Hearthttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/unlikely-friday-night-pizza-caf-cinicinnati-has-big-heart
Here's what might have sounded like a pretty shaky business plan for a neighborhood pizza cafe: "We'll only be open one day a week. Won't do any advertising. No prices on the menus. We'll serve mostly what we grow in the garden – and no pepperoni.Sun, 26 Oct 2014 14:22:00 +0000Noah Adams63119 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netAn Unlikely Friday Night Pizza Cafe Has A Big HeartWhat Makes A Bike Pump Worth $450?http://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/what-makes-bike-pump-worth-450
<div class="fullattribution">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.<img src="http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=What+Makes+A+Bike+Pump+Worth+%24450%3F&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAyMTY5Njg0MDEyMjQ2OTQ4NjVhMTAyZg004)"/></div><p>Transcript <p>MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: <p>If you happen to be thinking about buying a new bicycle pump, you'll soon see a floor pump priced at a whopping $450. The brand name is Silca. It's an Italian company that's been sold to an American bicycle engineer.Wed, 24 Sep 2014 20:27:00 +0000Noah Adams61610 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netCarroll, Iowa: Where The Childhood Paper Route Is Alive And Wellhttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/carroll-iowa-where-childhood-paper-route-alive-and-well
This story began in 2012 while I was working on a story in Iowa. I was taking pictures on a foggy afternoon and saw a young girl on a blue bicycle, a newspaper bag slung across her shoulder. She stopped and held up a copy of <a href="http://carrollspaper.com/">The Daily Times Herald</a>.<p>These days, most newspapers are delivered by fast-moving adults driving vans and trucks.Wed, 06 Aug 2014 20:44:00 +0000Noah Adams59066 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netCarroll, Iowa: Where The Childhood Paper Route Is Alive And WellWant A Shot At $10,000? Solve Kentucky's Great Bourbon Mysteryhttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/want-shot-10000-solve-kentuckys-great-bourbon-mystery
Saturday marks the 140th Run for the Roses: the Kentucky Derby. Great horses, great hats — but where's the Pappy Van Winkle bourbon for the mint juleps?<p>Last October, more than 200 bottles of the prized spirit were stolen right out of the distillery in Frankfort, Ky. The county sheriff believes it was an inside job, and a $10,000 reward remains on offer.<p>Pat Melton, the sheriff of Franklin County, Ky., has these facts: In the small city of Frankfort, 222 bottles disappeared from the Buffalo Trace Distillery.Fri, 02 May 2014 21:44:00 +0000Noah Adams53598 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netWant A Shot At $10,000? Solve Kentucky's Great Bourbon MysteryThe Ohio Snake Art That's Been Mid-Slither For A Millenniumhttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/ohio-snake-art-thats-been-mid-slither-millennium
In new installment of the Spring Break series, Noah Adams visits the Serpent Mound in southern Ohio. It's not a burial site; it's a massive, grass-covered effigy of a snake, created a thousand years ago. <div class="fullattribution">Copyright 2014 NPR.Thu, 17 Apr 2014 21:30:00 +0000Noah Adams52741 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netThe Ohio Snake Art That's Been Mid-Slither For A MillenniumFor A New View On The West Virginia Spill, Follow The Elk Riverhttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/new-view-west-virginia-spill-follow-elk-river
In early January, West Virginia's Elk River was contaminated by a chemical spill near Charleston. NPR's Noah Adams returns to the Elk nearly two months later to follow the course of the river.Thu, 13 Mar 2014 20:47:00 +0000Noah Adams50780 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netIn The Heat Of The Foundry, Steinway Piano 'Hearts' Are Madehttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/heat-foundry-steinway-piano-hearts-are-made
The Steinway piano company has a new owner. This fall, the investment firm Paulson & Co. — led by billionaire John Paulson — spent about $500 million and bought all of Steinway & Sons, the venerated piano maker.<p>The deal includes a foundry in Springfield, Ohio, where the Steinway pianos are born in fire.<p>The O.S. Kelly Foundry has been making Steinway's plates since 1938. The plate is the cast-iron heart of a piano: It holds the steel wire strings with 40,000 pounds of tension, the company says. It allows vibrations to arise in a concert hall as music.<p>The plates are an old design.Sat, 09 Nov 2013 22:20:00 +0000Noah Adams44420 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netIn The Heat Of The Foundry, Steinway Piano 'Hearts' Are MadeMichigan Apple Harvest Recovers, But Pickers Are Scarcehttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/michigan-apple-harvest-recovers-pickers-are-scarce
One year ago the Michigan apple harvest, hurt by a late winter warm-up and a spring freeze, was almost nonexistent at 3 million bushels. This fall, the crop is projected to yield a record-setting 30 million bushels, but now there's concern that not enough pickers will be in the orchards.<p>In west Michigan, there's an apple-growing region called The Ridge, where they will be talking for years down the road about that bleak 2012 apple calendar.Tue, 22 Oct 2013 07:17:00 +0000Noah Adams43316 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netMichigan Apple Harvest Recovers, But Pickers Are ScarceThe Inspiring Force Of 'We Shall Overcome'http://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/inspiring-force-we-shall-overcome
<em>As the nation marks the 50th anniversary of the </em><a href="http://www.npr.org/series/213897602/the-march-on-washington-at-50">March on Washington</a>, All Things Considered<em> concludes its series about the moments that defined the </em><a href="http://www.npr.org/series/188312863/the-summer-of-63">historic summer of 1963</a>.<em> Back in 1999, Noah Adams explored the history and legacy of the song "We Shall Overcome" for the </em><a href="http://www.npr.org/series/18955124/the-npr-100">NPR 100</a>. <em>The audio link contains a condensed version of that piece.Wed, 28 Aug 2013 22:20:00 +0000Noah Adams40211 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netThe Inspiring Force Of 'We Shall Overcome'Elmore Leonard, The 'Dickens Of Detroit,' Dies At 87http://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/elmore-leonard-dickens-detroit-dies-87
The writer Elmore Leonard has died. He was 87 years old and had recently suffered a stroke.<p>For decades, Leonard — working at the very top of his profession as a crime writer — had been widely acclaimed, and universally read. He published 46 novels, which resulted in countless movie and TV adaptations, including the movies <em>Out of Sight</em> and<em> Get Shorty</em> and the TV series <em>Justified</em>.<p>Leonard lived in Bloomfield Village, just outside Detroit, and in his library, he kept a copy of every book he ever wrote.Tue, 20 Aug 2013 19:42:00 +0000Noah Adams39749 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netElmore Leonard, The 'Dickens Of Detroit,' Dies At 87A Day With Elmore Leonard And The White Castle That Wasn'thttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/day-elmore-leonard-and-white-castle-wasnt
<em>Upon hearing news of the <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/08/20/213790688/crime-novelist-elmore-leonard-dies">death of Elmore Leonard</a>, NPR correspondent and former All Things Considered co-host Noah Adams recalls a day he spent with the crime writer in his hometown.</em><p>Three years ago, I rode with Elmore Leonard in the back of a rental car to see Detroit and remember what it once was.Tue, 20 Aug 2013 19:21:00 +0000Noah Adams39746 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netA Day With Elmore Leonard And The White Castle That Wasn'tIn Paducah, Artists Create Something From Nothinghttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/paducah-artists-create-something-nothing
How do you fix a neighborhood? What do you do about crime and drugs and the once-lovely old houses that are falling down? The answer in Paducah, Ky., was to turn it into a special place for artists to live, work and sell.<p>Paducah, already home to the National Quilt Museum, is far west on the edge of Kentucky, on the Ohio River. Lowertown, so-named for being downriver from downtown Paducah, was once quite elegant — 25 square blocks.Fri, 09 Aug 2013 07:05:00 +0000Noah Adams39128 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netIn Paducah, Artists Create Something From NothingIn Neville's Thrillers, Belfast's Violent Past Still Burnshttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/nevilles-thrillers-belfasts-violent-past-still-burns
At 41, with long black hair, Stuart Neville looks more like the rock guitarist he used to be than the author he is now. He lives in a small town with his family — not in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the city that plays a central role in his thrillers, but just outside it.<p>This week, world leaders are gathered in Northern Ireland for the G-8 conference, but such a meeting would have been unthinkable before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which brought Catholics and Protestants together in a new, tense, power-sharing government.Mon, 17 Jun 2013 06:57:00 +0000Noah Adams36164 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netIn Neville's Thrillers, Belfast's Violent Past Still BurnsIn Ohio Town, Okla. Twister Conjures Echoes Of 1974 Disasterhttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/ohio-town-okla-twister-conjures-echoes-1974-disaster
When a tornado roars into a populated area, the change is often drastic and deadly, and it happens within minutes. As the people of Oklahoma struggle to look beyond this month's devastating storms, residents of Xenia, Ohio, are reflecting on the tornado of 1974.<p>Xenia, in southwest Ohio near Dayton, became well-known to the nation that year. "Everywhere I go, and I've been all over the U.S., if I say I'm from Xenia people say, 'tornado,' " says Catherine Wilson, who runs the historical society in Xenia.Fri, 31 May 2013 21:36:00 +0000Noah Adams35208 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netIn Ohio Town, Okla. Twister Conjures Echoes Of 1974 DisasterMichigan Apple Orchards Blossom After A Devastating Yearhttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/michigan-apple-orchards-blossom-after-devastating-year
Last year, almost the entire Michigan apple crop was lost because of 80-degree days in March and then some freezing April nights. This year, the apples are back, but everything always depends on the weather.Tue, 14 May 2013 07:27:00 +0000Noah Adams34102 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netMichigan Apple Orchards Blossom After A Devastating YearStruggling W.Va. Town Hopes Boy Scout Camp Brings New Lifehttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/struggling-wva-town-hopes-boy-scout-camp-brings-new-life
Picture a tiny town set along a creek in West Virginia. A mountain rises from the town's eastern edge, overlooking the 1,400 people living below. Then, July comes — and 50,000 people arrive on that mountain for the National Scout Jamboree.<p>The town is called Mount Hope. I've heard some call it "Mount Hopeless." The town went through the long, downward slump from the boom days of deep-mine coal, when it was a grand, small-town capital of coal mining.<p>Now it's crumbling, struggling, but recently hopeful, because there's a veritable pot of gold on top of that nearby mountain.Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:55:00 +0000Noah Adams32106 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netStruggling W.Va. Town Hopes Boy Scout Camp Brings New LifeSteamship Anchors A Community, But Its Days May Be Numberedhttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/steamship-anchors-community-its-days-may-be-numbered
On the shores of Lake Michigan, the tiny town of Ludington, Mich., is home port to the last coal-fired ferry in the U.S. The SS Badger has been making trips across the lake to Manitowoc, Wis., during the good-weather months since 1953. And as it runs, the 411-foot ferry discharges coal ash slurry directly into the lake.<p>An Environmental Protection Agency permit allows the Badger to dump four tons of ash into the lake daily.Mon, 04 Mar 2013 22:17:00 +0000Noah Adams30165 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netSteamship Anchors A Community, But Its Days May Be NumberedIn Kentucky's Coal Country, A Resentment For Obamahttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/kentuckys-coal-country-resentment-obama
If the voters in Louisa, Ky., had their wish, Mitt Romney would have taken the oath of office Monday. Louisa is in eastern Kentucky, and "coal" was the one-word issue in the election. President Obama is seen as an enemy of coal mining and he got only 27 percent of the vote in the county.<p>And now comes word that Louisa is going to lose its biggest industry — a power generating plant that's been burning coal since 1962.<p>Stand outside the courthouse in Louisa, a small town of 2,000 people, and you'll see that it's easy to meet a coal miner. Mitchell Maynard is a third-generation miner.Mon, 21 Jan 2013 22:13:00 +0000Noah Adams27833 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netIn Kentucky's Coal Country, A Resentment For ObamaThe Rebirth Of Rye Whiskey And Nostalgia For 'The Good Stuff' http://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/rebirth-rye-whiskey-and-nostalgia-good-stuff
It used to be said that only old men drink rye, sitting alone down at the end of the bar, but that's no longer the case as bartenders and patrons set aside the gins and the vodkas and rediscover the pleasures of one of America's old-fashioned favorites.<p>Whiskey from rye grain was what most distilleries made before Prohibition. Then, after repeal in 1933, bourbon, made from corn, became more popular.Wed, 26 Dec 2012 07:14:00 +0000Noah Adams26562 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netThe Rebirth Of Rye Whiskey And Nostalgia For 'The Good Stuff' Elizabeth LaPrelle: Carrying On The Appalachian Traditionhttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/elizabeth-laprelle-carrying-appalachian-tradition
<p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5h7c-MZBX0</p><p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbPJSOef4NE</p>Sun, 02 Dec 2012 06:33:00 +0000Noah Adams25463 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netElizabeth LaPrelle: Carrying On The Appalachian TraditionShriveled Mich. Apple Harvest Means Fewer Jobs, Tough Year Aheadhttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/shriveled-mich-apple-harvest-means-fewer-jobs-tough-year-ahead
An apple a day might keep the doctor away, but what do you do when there are no apples? It's a question western Michigan's apple growers are dealing with this season after strange weather earlier in the year decimated the state's apple cultivation.<p>Michigan is the <a href="http://www.michiganapples.com/grow1.html">third-largest</a> apple producer in the U.S. after New York and Washington, but the state's apples will soon be in short supply.Mon, 17 Sep 2012 19:44:00 +0000Noah Adams21208 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netShriveled Mich. Apple Harvest Means Fewer Jobs, Tough Year AheadMichigan Author Dreams Up A Deadlier Ann Arborhttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/michigan-author-dreams-deadlier-ann-arbor
Ask Harry Dolan to take you for lunch at a restaurant he's written about, and he won't disappoint. In downtown Ann Arbor, Mich., on Liberty Street, the vegetarian restaurant Seva serves mushroom sliders and yam fries that both the crime writer and his characters are quite fond of. With any luck, you'll also catch the perfect song playing in the background — "Psycho Killer" by the Talking Heads.<p>Dolan's David Loogan crime series follows the editor of a mystery magazine who's always finding trouble.Mon, 27 Aug 2012 07:24:00 +0000Noah Adams19749 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netMichigan Author Dreams Up A Deadlier Ann ArborCruisin' For Classic Cars On A Steamy Summer Nighthttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/cruisin-classic-cars-steamy-summer-night
At the heart of the small town of Milan, Ohio, there's a graceful and tree-lined town square. It makes a good gathering spot for the classic cars and trucks of decades past.<p>A 1923 T-Bucket Ford, a '77 Chevy El Camino, a '68 AMC AMX, a '46 Dodge truck, a '59 Ford Galaxie — they all keep arriving after 5 o'clock every Tuesday evening. As the owner-drivers park around the square, engine hoods go up, lawn chairs come out — and the admiration begins.<p>If the town's name sounds familiar, it's probably because Thomas A. Edison was born here in 1847.Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:29:00 +0000Noah Adams18284 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netCruisin' For Classic Cars On A Steamy Summer NightObama's 'Clean Coal' Fighting Words To W.Va. Demshttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/obamas-clean-coal-fighting-words-wva-dems
Mingo County, deep in the southwest corner of West Virginia, has sent a "protest vote" to the attention of President Obama. In the May 8 Democratic primary, voters chose a man named <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/05/09/152326121/inmate-polls-well-against-obama-in-west-virginia-primary" target="_blank">Keith Judd</a> to run for president. He got 61 percent of the vote.<p>Judd won't be available. He's serving a 17-year sentence for extortion.Mon, 02 Jul 2012 21:29:00 +0000Noah Adams16069 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netObama's 'Clean Coal' Fighting Words To W.Va. DemsCalled To The Post, Derby Starters Pack 'Em Inhttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/called-post-derby-starters-pack-em
When the gates fly open at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday, all eyes will be on the 20 racehorses that launch themselves into the 138th Kentucky Derby. That's a lot of horses, and a special challenge for the men charged with getting them into the starting gate safely.<p>Caleb Hayes, 24, has been part of the 12-man start crew for the past six years. The 9-to-5 life isn't for him, he says — he loves his job and likes working the gate side by side with the older guys.<p>"They were working on this gate before I was even born," Hayes says.Sat, 05 May 2012 09:03:00 +0000Noah Adams12465 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netCalled To The Post, Derby Starters Pack 'Em InHow America 'Struck Back': Doolittle Raid Turns 70http://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/how-america-struck-back-doolittle-raid-turns-70
It's just after sunrise outside the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, when 20 B-25 bombers start showing up in the western sky.<p>The B-25s land outside the museum and line up on display. They're restored, privately owned military aircraft that were brought in to help remember the 16 bombers that left on a secret mission to Japan on April 12, 1942. None of those planes actually made it back — but most of the 80 Army Air Corps crewmen who flew them did.Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:48:00 +0000Noah Adams11469 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netHow America 'Struck Back': Doolittle Raid Turns 70The Beauty And Difficulty Of Poet Nikky Finneyhttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/beauty-and-difficulty-poet-nikky-finney
April is National Poetry Month, a time when bookstores proudly display those slim volumes usually hidden in the back.<p>On display this April is the work of Kentucky poet Nikky Finney, who won the National Book Award last November for her latest collection, <em>Head Off & Split</em>.<p>Finney's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFSiKx-hzks">acceptance speech at the awards ceremony</a> was as poetic as anything in her winning book. Finney says she worked on the speech through 39 drafts and she felt good about it, but she's still stunned by the response she's gotten.<p>"People write me.Sat, 07 Apr 2012 16:49:00 +0000Noah Adams10988 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netThe Beauty And Difficulty Of Poet Nikky FinneyHard Times Inspire Ky. College Students To Actionhttp://delmarvapublicradio.net/post/hard-times-inspire-ky-college-students-action
<em>Part of a</em><em> </em><a href="http://www.npr.org/series/141796961/hard-times-a-journey-across-america">monthlong series</a><p><em>NPR's Hard Times series features stories of economic hardship and also stories of hope.Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:59:00 +0000Noah Adams3853 at http://delmarvapublicradio.netHard Times Inspire Ky. College Students To Action